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http://jasonhargrove.com/ “Whoa! Not many people could pull that dress off,” I thought as I gazed at the pictures on Pinterest. The dress was low cut and red, with the bodice made entirely of roses. Next to it, was a short dress of ivy and pink roses. As I scrolled down I saw many variations . . . → Read More: Rocking Piano Down The Runway  A few years ago I got out Thoreau from Ives’ Concord Sonata and decided to discover it. As you all know I’m a sucker for pieces about the outdoors, plus there’s that flute solo which is quite delicious. For several reasons the project was never completed and the piece languished near the bottom of my . . . → Read More: Playing With Wolfgang: Ives for Boston Last Thursday, film critic Roger Ebert lost his long battle with cancer. I was listening to a Fresh Air interview by Terry Gross and was struck by the following: I went to see “La Dolce Vita” by Fellini, and that movie has been a touchstone for me, because when I saw it in 1960, there . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: As Time Goes By Tomorrow evening is our EAC Piano Recital. We always try to do something to make the evening special for both the performers and the audience. This spring, we decided to choose quotations to project behind each pianist as they perform. There were no limits on the origin of the quotation. The only stipulation was that . . . → Read More: Matching Quiz It’s good for your health as a musician to be in the company of other good musicians. I don’t think I could really exist as a musician without that. And, pianist Shai Wosner practices what he preaches! He is currently off an a European tour playing trios by Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert . . . → Read More: Artist Portrait: Shai Wosner “Wow !” I said, “You are like a different pianist!” And she was. Before, there had been surges and awkward accents in the opening to her Intermezzo, impossible to remove despite hard work on both of our parts. Now, after one week on meds for ADHD, there was a beautiful calm flow and elegance about . . . → Read More: Vintage PA: What’s On The Inside We all know that it is rude to interrupt a person when they are speaking. Most of us learned this early in our lives. Later, we discovered that there are exceptions to the non-interruption rule, such as Great Uncle Herbert droning on for a half hour about that crop of petunias he raised in 1947. . . . → Read More: Playing With Wolfgang: Schubert Interrupted “You’re a romantic!” said my teacher in a surprised voice, as though this explained everything he found perplexing about me. I had never been accused of being anything but a pianist—romantic or no. I can’t remember what I was playing and it wasn’t necessarily meant as a compliment, though for some reason I felt a . . . → Read More: Vintage Post: A Romantic Accusation One of my Facebook friends recently shared a few words of advice to aspiring musicians by pianist, singer, songwriter, and producer, Ben Folds. This earthy collection of thoughts struck a chord with me. Also, I find it entertaining and awesome that he wrote it while on a flight to Boston. The advice applies to . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: Opportunity Knocks Some thoughts for my student as she prepares for a competition… Welcome to the next step of your personal musical journey. You will meet some colleagues who are musically much more mature and experienced than yourself. You will also meet those who are less experienced and mature. You have to be strong enough to be . . . → Read More: Thoughts On An Upcoming Competition It’s that time of year again—time for the college fall recital. We always try to do something unique and different (put on a show) so that the audience is glad they came and the performers have something to focus on besides just getting the notes right. In the past, our programs have included dueling piano . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: Sound Images http://www.atheart.in I was a practical child. I always needed to know what something was for. My favorite question was why? My Dad sang a popular nonsense song to me when I was 6 or 7 and I remember how frustrated he was that I didn’t understand the silliness and wanted to try to make . . . → Read More: Playing With Wolfgang: Fliszt Footsteps in the Snow One weekend, many years ago, as I was preparing for my Master’s Recital (I will leave the many up to your imagination but please, dear reader, be kind), my now husband decided that I was about to crack and needed a day away from the piano. I did not agree and . . . → Read More: Playing With Wolfgang: Debussy – Footsteps, Long Hair, & Fans I have always secretly had it in for Clara Schumann. There was that Trio that I was forced to work on for an entire semester and then there is the fact that Clara was performing concerts from memory at the ripe old age of 9, the first person ever to do so. Later, she was . . . → Read More: Playing With Wolfgang 1.1: Clara & Robert Sitting In A Tree It is human nature to have a gut belief that everyone finds musical inspiration just as you do. The way we operate is just so intrinsic to who we are that we often can’t imagine it any other way. Yet, if we go out of our comfort zone, it is possible to discover surprising things . . . → Read More: Finding Inspiration No one was more surprised than I when I conceived of the Menuetto to my Mozart Sonata as a heated discussion between a married couple. When I talked about it, my musical friends gave me funny smiles and quickly began to discuss the weather. I second guessed myself while driving to school and decided that . . . → Read More: Playing With Wolfgang  |
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